Condos

Country estate in the city of Edmonton

Secluded home backs onto deep, quiet forest

Sunlight and views of nature flood into the living room in Doug and Donna Mulholland's home. The home has 3,000 square feet on each of the main and bottom floors.

Photograph by: Bruce Edwards
, Edmonton Journal

Doug and Donna Mulholland’s place is not difficult to find, in theory.

It’s on a named city street. It’s got an official address. Google Maps says it’s right here.

OK, so where is it? The houses adjacent are numbered to indicate .... AHA! I see a driveway.

I pull into the driveway and walk up to the home. The door opens and the secret is revealed.

Suddenly I’m in a modern, elegant and spacious cabin in the woods. OK, cabin is wrong. Country estate?

The point is, it’s kind of secluded. And it’s wooded.

The back of the pie-shaped lot is all forested ravine. The woods, thick at the rear of the property, also stretch out from the western fence line.

Neighbours? What neighbours?

The home is 3,000 square feet on the main floor. Beneath it is another 3,000 square feet that, were I to call it a basement, would also be wrong.

The downstairs opens up — literally, given the patio doors — to a forest-glade of a backyard.

The lower level hosts two gorgeous bedrooms. Each has its own bathroom, complete with showers. Another room, built as an exercise area with rubberized floor, now doubles as a play room for grandkids.

The downstairs bar, complete with pool table, is so well appointed that it could serve as a second kitchen. Adjacent to it is a spacious family room with big-screen TV and gorgeous hardwood floors.

The ‘basement’ also houses a walk-in wine room. It is well stocked, to say the least. Perhaps this is no surprise, given that the Mulhollands owned and operated a chain of liquor stores until 2005, when they sold and retired.

After they raised their two sons, James and Michael, they began planning this home. So they talked to a family friend — Lee Fogolin, the former Edmonton Oilers captain —whose second career was in fine cabinetry and home building.

The focal point upstairs is the great room, with its glass curtain walls and its all-forest, all-the-time views.

Hard to believe the home is only pitching-wedge distance from Hole 5 of the Edmonton Golf and Country Club. In fact, it’s hard to believe it’s in the city at all.

Donna and Doug met in high school in Winnipeg. They moved to Edmonton in 1970 when Doug was involved in banking and then the hotel business.

Donna raised the boys, worked for a time with the library and then got involved with the family business when Doug opened the first private liquor store in Alberta.

Donna also helped plan this new home. She wanted it to be great for entertaining. She laughs about getting “carried away” during the planning process.

For example, much of the home is automated — blinds, music, TVs, heating, air conditioning, security — and linked to small touch screens.

“At our age, we have some trouble with the technology,” she says with a smile. “When you set the system, you don’t change it.”

The interior design and decor is also as Donna wished — modern, clean and uncluttered, with neutral paint colours.

The kitchen is gorgeous, with its walnut cabinets and granite-topped island, complete with refrigerated drawers for beverages. There’s also a small bar across from the island and an adjacent seating area with leather armchairs and built-in TV.

Just off the kitchen is a secluded balcony, seemingly perched in the tree tops. It feels like a luxury box in the woods.

The upstairs ceilings are high and panelled. The half-wall between the great room and the dining room is a Fogolin touch — rich wood around the gas fireplace.

The dining room is modern refined, with thin, black pendulum lights, reminiscent of long candles, over the wood table. The feature wall needs no art, as it is made up of a striking pattern of neutral panels.

The master bedroom offers more views of the forest and has its own stone fireplace. The ensuite enjoys gobs of natural light. Anyone soaking in the tub gets yet another own view of the woods.

The home also features two laundry rooms — one on each level. The garage has its own mud room, with hooks and storage for coats, boots and miscellaneous stuff.

You can shuck off all remnants of the outdoors and step through the door into the elegant and secret cabin in the woods.

You’ve just got to find it first.

Scott can be reached at Scott@ScottMcKeen.ca for comments or suggestions for future features on unique or beautiful homes in the Edmonton region.

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